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Posts tagged ‘Krept & Konan’

Saturday at Reading Festival begun in the best way possible, and that was with one of Grime’s hardest working producers Rude Kid who played an array of tunes including Punjabi MC that was mixed into a remix full of bass. Grime tracks he played included Kano’s ‘3 Wheel Up’s’ which led into Skepta ft. JME ‘That’s Not Me’. Rude Kid’s vibe on stage got the whole crowd bubbling off of his energy and it definitely didn’t feel like it was 2pm.

Drum & Bass was next on the agenda over at the NME Stage firstly with Belgium producer Netsky who kicked off with their own track ‘Running Low’, leading into ‘Intrap’. The atmosphere was buzzing inside the tent with everyone having fun and good vibes. He ended on track ‘Rio’ which was rather fitting with the Olympics just finishing there.

Sigma hit the stage after with their host saying “We are live to the world on the BBC, make some nooooiiseeee! Are y’ll ready for some live Drum & Bass, are y’ll ready for Sigma”, which ended with the crowds screams. They begun their high-energy set with their huge track ft. Labrinth ‘Higher’. They played an collection of their classic tracks such as ‘Rudeboy’ ft Doctor with the packed tent skanking out to every one.

As the end of the evening was approaching South London Rap duo Krept & Konan brought their flawless energy and vitality to the NME Stage. They performed tracks such as ‘MDMA’ ft. G Frsh, ‘Don’t Waste My Time’ and brought out Abra Cadabra for the ‘Robbery Remix’. They had the whole crowd chanting their lyrics back to them like true underground rappers who have risen to stardom.

New York superstar Nas who was the main attraction of the night entered onto the NME stage looking like class and opening with a dramatic intro leading into ‘You Can Hate Me Now’. Joined by DJ Green Lantern, he played his most classic tracks such as ‘Nas Is Like’ ‘Got Yourself A Gun,’ ‘N.Y State Of Mind’ and closing with my favourite ‘One Mic’. He paid respect to two late but great legends Prince and Michael Jackson with track ‘Human Nature’, sampling ‘’It Ain’t Hard To Tell’.

He performed with power, authority and strength leaving his fans in absolute awe and saying at the end “Music can last forever”, we fully agree with you Nas.

Youngs Teflon

Brixton rapper Youngs Teflon is a UK gem. His work rate has always been high, and he always produces good quality music to our ears. At the beginning of March, he delivered an intense 14-track mixtape March Madness packed full of hip-hop beats that could easily take you back to the ’90s. He lyrically rides classic instrumentals which a lot of you will recognise as they have had Eric B & Rakim, Kendrick Lemar, Souls Of Mischief, The Lox and more spit on them. We also see a UK classic from Dubz & Giggs ‘Pain Is The Essence’, with Tefs giving his own spin. This is a true, refreshing UK rap sound with Tefs spinning us tales in his identifiable way, with the timeless sounds of DJ Premier, Dr Dre, Alchemist and many more. Listen below.

67 ft. Giggs

I think this track is seriously going to be a UK rap classic. The 67 crew have been teasing us with clips before the video dropped for a little while, getting everyone excited for the visuals to drop! Now we have them and it was definitely worth the wait. ‘Let’s Lurk’ is pure crud, with the instrumental pounding out a repetitive marching beat with a looming feel to it, and the video matching the tracks dark vibe. It features the Godfather of UK Rap, Giggs, who matches the tracks sinister feel with an amazing verse that complements 67. It’s UK at its finest.

The 67 boys also released news of their first headline show which will take place on the 29th March at Birthdays in Dalston. This is going to be one you won’t forget so get your tickets here now.

Nines

Whilst wer’e on the subject of shows, unfortunately the Church Road rapper Nines has had his shows cancelled, probably due to the police shutting it down. It’s a shame this is still happening to artists in the UK. We hope he does a secret show for his fans soon though!

Tremz

Liverpudlian rapper Tremz has hit us with a brand new studio video for a cruddy track ‘Pull Up Hop Out Bang’. Tremz delivery is energetic and he keeps it real with his lyrics, and this is why UK rap fans are starting to take him in more, and he is getting plays on the likes of 1Xtra and has a Westwood Crib session dropping soon. This track is taken from Fumez The Engineer forthcoming ‘The Mix-Tape’ which will also see tracks from Sho Shallow, Ard Adz, Joe Black, Cadet and more on March 13th. Listen to Tremz scouse trapping below…

Krept & Konan ft. YG

Krept & Konan are two of the most well known rappers right now in the UK straight out of South London. Their album ‘The Long Way Home’ dropped last year, and now we’ve been treated to a new video off of their ‘Last Night’. Whilst we hear the opening chant of “I don’t even know what I did last night’ we see Krept & Konan walking into a club with scantily clad women in masks. The rap duo drop some very crisp bars, full of punchlines, whilst YG slides in at the end to give his spin on the track.

C Biz

Last but not least, I’m ending this week’s column on C Biz. South Kilburn style the video shows lots of money, gold watches and chains. ‘Money March’ is a straight street anthem with C Biz talking about his real life situations, “C Biz taste this, this never started overnight, this shit took ages, fast life fast money,” with lots of swaggy clothes.

*published on 7th March 2016 on The 405 http://www.thefourohfive.com/music/article/the-sounds-of-uk-rap-youngs-teflon-nines-tremz-more-145

GRM Daily who fully represent UK urban talent have joined with KA Drinks to give us The Rated Awards, a brand new music award ceremony to celebrate and recognise the best of British urban talent.

On 17th September at Clapham Grand their will be a variety of performances and awards given out from the elite of the urban entertainment industry. Headliners include Fekky, Kano, Ghetts with Lil Simz just added to the bill too!

Their will be nine categories and awards given out on the night. The categories are; BestProject, BestBreakthrough, Best Producer, the KA GetRatedAward,GRMLegacyAward, Best Track, Best DJ, Best Video & Personality Of The Year. This award will be presented to an individual who has well and truly cemented their position as a real stalwart of the scene, whose back catalogue and previous success proves they are nothing short of true legendary status.

JME has been nominated for four of the awards with Krept & Konan behind for three and newcomers Bonkaz and Bugzy Malone receiveing to get two each.

Sunday feeling a little bit tired after sleeping in a tent we awoke and livened ourselves up hoping to catch The Skints with Grime MC Rival, which unfortunately we missed.

Walking past the BBC Radio 1 Dance Tent I was enticed in by some banging tunes played by 99 Souls who I’m ashamed to say I’d never heard of before, but this is what I love about festivals finding new artists! The DJ’s got me raving as soon as I stepped into the festival!

I headed over to the 1Xtra Stage next to catch Isaiah Dreads. The young, West Country, Grime MC who pulled in a decent crowd even though it was early and had people singing along to his lyrics which included ‘Wait For Me’ off his recently released mixtape. You could see he had impressed crowd, some who hadn’t heard of him before too.

Fekky was the next live artist we chose to see. His live performances always win over more fans for him. He set the stage alight more than I’d ever seen before, with pure energy and charisma. Performing tracks such as ‘Still Sittin Here’ ‘Way Too Much’ ‘Hot Boy’ and more he sprayed water over the crowd and handed out plastic cups filled with champagne. His two surprise guests brought a huge buzz especially when General Levy came out performing ‘Incredible’ and fellow South London don Sneakbo who performed ‘The Wave’.

Taking some chill out time we headed to the NME/BBC Radio 1 Stage to watch a band completely unheard of to our ears; Glass Animals and yet again they won us round. It’s amazing what listening to a band live can do and how it can change your perception. I really would advise checking them out as they blend R&B, soul, hip hop and indie.

Next up was Young Thug the American rapper who made his debut appearance in the UK at Reading Festival and what a chaos he caused over in 1Xtra. He certainly made an impression on festival goers with his incredible energy and stage presence, showering fans with water who knew every words of his lyrics.

Excitedly rushing over to the NME/BBC Radio 1 stage I knew I had to catch Jamie XX live and in all his glory. The DJ literally left me in awe and dancing for the 30 minutes I witnessed of his hour set. The atmosphere of the crowd was pure entrancement. This set was definitely another favourite of the weekend, and one I had never witnessed before.

I caught some of South London’s Stormzy set over at 1Xtra. He played again to a full house where the energy was high performing hit ‘Not That Deep’, ‘Shut Up’ and more, bouncing all over the stage with the vigor transferring to the crowd. Krept & Konan were next up on 1Xtra and they drew even more of a crowd performing tracks from mixtape ‘Young Kingz’ such as ‘MDMA’ and ‘Don’t Waste My Time’ and also tracks from their new album ‘The Long Way Home’ such as ‘Freak Of The Week’. The South Londoner’s also shut down their performance bringing mad energy and special guest Yungen on with them.

West Coast, American rapper Kendrick Lemar was up next on the main stage where he brought the mood up and down performing hits from his album ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’ and ‘Good Kid M.A.A.D City’ such as ‘Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe’, ‘Swimming Pools’ and more. He showed Reading why he deserves his mainstream success as he lit up the stage.

The next two artists I wanted to watch were luckily at the same stage (BBC Radio 1 Dance) and finished off the Sunday night perfectly for me. Hudson Mowhake was first and warmed me up nicely for the headline act over at the dance stage BBK. Hudson Mowhake shone with his amazing productions mixing hip hop, soul and electronic and I was amazed to be in his presence while he stood on stage.

The Dance tent suddenly became more and more packed as it seemed like the whole of Reading Festival had come to watch Boy Better Know for their hour set with Frisco coming on stage first, followed by Jammer and then the rest of the crew through from Shorty to Skepta, JME, Maximum and Solo 45. They performed a whole host of tracks such as Frisco’s collaborative ‘Walking With The Elephants’ with Shakka, ‘Shaky’, ‘Too Many Men’, ‘That’s Not Me’ ‘It Ain’t Safe’ and ended with ‘Shutdown’. They showed Reading why Grime will always live on and why they are the Grime Kings.

As their debut album is fast approaching with its release in just over a month on July 6, South London UK rap stars Krept & Konan drop another video”‘F.W.T.S”. We will get two versions of this track though as the official one on the album – unlike this video – will feature Boy Better Know’s Skepta. For this track they take it more back to their roots and serve the streets.

The AR15 mixtape is due to be one of the biggest releases of the year and features a whole host of the UK’s best rappers such as Skepta, Stormzy, Kano, Devlin, Wretch 32, Chip and many more. This is the second track to be heard from the tape and features an all-star cast with Squeeks, Sneakbo, Dubz, Stormzy & Bigz going verse for verse over a Nana Rouges produced haunting beat.

Nero – “Dark Skies”

Electronic music trio Nero drop a new track off their forthcoming highly anticipated album Between II Worlds. “Dark Skies” is the fourth track to be heard, and fans of Nero who have witnessed their live sets will recognise it as they have been playing it for a few years now. Full of metallic synths and vivid subs it has an eerie deposition, while still sounding futuristic. The album arrives August 28.

J Hus – “Lean & Bop”

You’ve heard this track on the radio after the audio was unleashed and it’s safe to say this is one of the biggest tunes of the year for many. Now “Lean & Bop” has a video and it features some well-known faces such as G Frsh, Krept & Konan and Tim Westwood who J Hus teaches how to do the dance too. The feel-good anthem features Doccydocs and is going to be heard everywhere this summer.

P Money – ‘My Lingo’

OGz P Money keeps up the good work rate and drops a new visual for “My Lingo” where he talks some home truths and encourages people to do better. The Thomas Mellor produced track is a cut from his forthcoming mixtape ‘Money Over Everything’ which is released on June 28th.

I’m not going to talk about the Grime beef going on between Chip, Skepta, Devilman, Saskilla, Big Narstie and now Shizz as I’m sure you can find out enough online if you’re interested. Lets keep it to what it’s about my favourite tracks of the past week with all the best in UK only rap & grime.

Krept & Konan ft Rick Ross – Certified

Well these two rappers are certainly creating history again and shot to the Top 5 in the album charts with just the news of their album release alone. After that they dropped the track to one of their most excitable collaborations with the Maybach Music boss Rick Ross and it is a ‘Certified’ banger with Ross bringing the heat too. ‘The Long Way Home’ album is due July 6th.

Mr Bigz ft Wretch 32 – Finer Taste

Mr Bigz is a UK rap veteran and last Summer he dropped his ‘S.U.M.M.E.R’ EP with some soulful, classic hip hop tracks. Last week saw him release the video to one of the favorable tracks off it ‘Finer Taste’ featuring Wretch 32, and it seems the two rappers bring the best out in each other in this Nas sampled track.

Deli Bricks ft Blade Brown – Deadlines

As Deli Bricks mixtape ‘Finnesin’ is coming up for realise on April 12th as a free download on GRM Daily, he keeps the momentum flowing releasing the 2nd visual to another collaborative track, this time featuring one of UK raps hardest lyricists Blade Brown. A mixture of flows and bars from the two makes for a heavy combination of truthful storytelling on this trap beat.

Lil Nasty ft Nasty Jack, Milli Major and Sgt Elz – F You Remix

‘F You’ remix video dropped shot by Grimes legendary Risky Roads and featuring Nasty Jack, Milli Major and Sgt Elz. This looks set to be the beginning of Lil Nasty’s new A.M.O Nation imprint and perhaps an EP or mixtape on the way. The 4 MC’s go in, each spitting a verse on this high energy Grime track with a nostalgic shot video.

Shalo – Running From Myself

Shalo is a artist signed to Alwayz Recordings and who has previously released music alongside Chip, Double S, Yellows and more. He is spiritual and this track sees him paint a vivid picture with deep and real life situations that many can relate too. It features some beautiful vocals too, cementing the emotional song more. This will be on his forthcoming EP ‘The White Room’.

South London is known for bringing the heat in the UK rap world and this track right here proves it as 3 of their finest join for a wicked collaboration. Sneakbo enlists BET award winners Krept & Konan for track Right Here taken from his forthcoming Certified tape.

With the release of Yungen‘s Project Black & Red approaching on Sunday which features Stormzy,Krept & Konan, Sneakbo, G Frsh and more, Yungen dropped the video to Too Real a deep track about people around him and trust.

We’ve been hearing a lot from the Disturbing LDN and Parlophone rapper G Frsh as of late, as he gets us ready for his forthcoming EP ‘Alfie’; slated for an August release. He gave fans a present in the form of a free download for new track ‘The Hardest Part’ which of course sees G hitting us with some hard bars, and Sonny Reeves (also signed to Disturbing LDN) providing him with the vocals over a laid back beat.

Fresh from his ‘Lost Soul’ mixtape release, North London’s Coops keeps the work rate levels high and drops another visual from the tape ‘Rap Masterclass’ which seems to be set in Amsterdam. Produced by Talos, this is another banger with an old school hip hop vibe from a very talented and rising lyricist that a lot of people are calling one to watch. Coops matches laid back flows and beats to deliver us something special.

Now if you haven’t heard of Potter Payper, honestly I don’t know where you have been. Fresh from his incarceration, he is back to tear the streets apart as he shows why he is one is one of the most respected MC’s as he takes to Charlie Sloth’s studio to give him a Fire In The Booth. His wordplay and flow is exceptional, and this is the standard other rappers need to be looking too. From Drake’s‘0-100’ to Robin Shulz remix of ‘Waves’ instrumentals, he keeps the levels high.

Blue Borough’s (Lewisham) Dru Blu takes a totally British phrase ‘Let’s Avit’ which is commonly used at football matches or by people to mean ‘let’s have a good time’ in excitement as the name for his new track. Great to see UK artists capturing their British roots and essence, and Dru entertains too with the visuals for the track. Nice work!

Big congratulations are also in order for Krept & Konan who flew out to LA for the BET Awards 2014and bagged the award for Best International Act: UK. They beat Dizzee Rascal, Ghetts, Tinie Tempah, Rita Ora and Laura Mvula.

SBTV‘s Shireen Fenner headed to this year’s Camden Crawl festival over the weekend to catch all of the action…

Camden Crawl took place last weekend Friday 20th and Saturday 21st June across many bars and venues. First up on Friday was rising R&B singer Raheem Bakare who played at the Monarch. He wowed the audience with his stunning vocals from his recent EP AWOL as well as covering Sam Smith’s Stay With Me. It wasn’t just me blown away by this future superstar, everyone was captivated as we also all sung along to Bob Marley with Raheem.

Ghetts was up next with his live band and he performed to the packed pub with such raw energy, it was hard to not enjoy his performance. filled with such vigor and freshness. He was joined by Rival, a highly rated MC who performed collaborative track Said To Me with Ghetts, also bursting with liveliness. Ghett’s performed tracks off his album such as Gas Mark 9 leaving us all on a high.

Next stop was Underworld to watch UK rap favourites Krept & Konan. It was disappointing not to see the venue full for them, as these two deserved, but they gave it their all performing their hit Don’t Waste My Time and other tracks off their recently released and critically acclaimed Young King mixtape. DJ Target took over on the decks now to play a mixture of tunes, and Manga joined him on hosting duties keeping the crowd lively.

Itch FM and Big Promo’s Thad Boogie put on a great stage at the Beatrice on the Saturday night. I arrived first to see the rapper everyone is talking about Little Simz. She just released her EP, E.D.G.E, which she showcased some tracks and showed newbies to Simz why she is next in line to blow. Her confidence along with her unique voice, skippy flow and bouncy energy got everyone listening.

Lady Lykez was up next on the same stage, and the North London had the most vivacity of the night. She was like a lioness on stage, encouraging the audience to bounce along with her and chant her lyrics back, she has fantastic stage presence performing tracks such as, I Love My Butt, which celebrates body image, Eurgh and Psycho her recent release which explores dynamics in relationships.

Emily Rawson and Big Ted were at their usual spot in Camden, the Jazz Café where they put on regular hip hop night ‘Supa Dupa Fly’. Here, we checked out Blizzard. With just himself and a keyboard (yes, he plays), along with his charm, he took to the stage performing his own tracks and getting the crowd to sing along to tracks such as Wilkinson’s Afterglow. Our favourite bit of his set was a rendition of Tracey Chapman’s Fast Car nameed Megabus, which was an extremely witty and funny track about the struggles of his journeys from Manchester to London.

Next up, Mumdance and Novelist took it up a notch as it got to that time of the night where we wanted to dance and that is just what we did. Performing at KOKO, Novelist really impressed us with his ability to control the audience and keep them entertained, as well as Mumdance’s too. They both held their own, with Mumdance displaying his unique, futuristic sounds.

Last but not least was Plastician, who had us raving our hearts out to his set. As a pioneer in the scene, we wouldn’t have expected any less than what he gave us switching up between dubstep and grime and a little of something inbetween.

All in all, it was a great weekend for fantastic music, as Ghett’s told us, ““Camden Crawl was one of my best gigs to date, really looking forward doing it again next year. It’s a great festival for introducing new talent into the London scene”. We couldn’t have put it better ourselves (obviously not the performing part, but, hey, you never know!)